The Mainland Affairs Council yesterday said that it opposed the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) proposed amendments to the Offshore Islands Development Act (離島建設條例) that would allow Chinese contractors to participate in infrastructure projects on the nation’s outlying islands.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said that the proposed amendments, if passed, would leave the nation defenseless by allowing Chinese contractors to gain express access to its territories.
The amendment was jointly proposed by KMT legislators Chen Hsueh-sheng (陳雪生) and Chen Yu-chen (陳玉珍), who represent districts in Lienchiang and Kinmen counties respectively.
Photo: Chen Yu-fu, Taipei Times
They proposed amending articles 7-1, 10, 11, 29 and 40 of the act, which would allow Chinese contractors to bid for government-funded infrastructure projects in outlying islands, recruit Chinese specialists to operate construction machinery and access Taiwan’s restricted territorial waters and set up branch offices.
Similar amendments were proposed in 2017, Minister of Mainland Affairs Council Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) told a news conference in Taipei yesterday.
“We cannot agree with the proposed amendments, as they would allow Chinese contractors to take part in key infrastructure projects in airports, seaports and bridges, which could generate national security risks,” Chiu said. “It is likely that China would use these projects to infiltrate domestic politics. We will seek to explain the related issues to the two legislators.”
The council also denied that it is intentionally obstructing development on the outlying islands.
“We [MAC] have assisted contractors of the Kinmen Bridge and the Jinjiang-Kinmen Pipeline projects to bring in machinery, sea vessels and personnel when working in Taiwan’s prohibited and restricted waters,” he said. “We did not cause any construction delays.”
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